Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, has accused former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai of taking actions that allegedly deepened divisions in the state during his tenure.

Musa made the allegations on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television, claiming that El-Rufai’s administration created a situation in which residents from southern Kaduna could not freely live in the northern part of the state and vice versa.

“El-Rufai did a lot of terrible things in Kaduna State. He divided the state into two. In that, if you are from the south, you cannot go to the north to live. Those ones from the north were moving to the south,” Musa said.

He, however, credited Governor Uba Sani with making efforts to rebuild unity and restore freedom of movement among residents across the state.

“I mean, you can’t imagine that in the country. The country that is supposed to be one. But Governor Uba Sani, within one year, has been able to dissolve all that,” he said.

“You see now, everybody is free. Everybody has a say. It’s not 100 percent, let me tell you; it’s not 100 percent. But you can see that he’s making deliberate effort in uniting the state.”

The Defence Minister also alleged that residents of southern Kaduna remained aggrieved over El-Rufai’s handling of security challenges and killings recorded in the area during his administration.

Musa claimed that the former governor had, in public statements, spoken about payments made to bandits and other actions taken by his administration to address insecurity.

“If you look at his videos, his speeches, he was very proud of what he did. He told us he paid bandits. He told us he did this; he did that. He didn’t hide it,” he alleged.

“He was that arrogant to come out and tell people that this was what he did.”

Despite his criticism, Musa said he did not regard El-Rufai as an enemy, describing him instead as “misguided”.

The Minister said the scale of killings recorded in southern Kaduna under the former governor could not be compared with the situation under the current administration.

“If you look at the number of killings that were done there (southern Kaduna) and what is going on now, you can’t compare at all. And he didn’t give opportunities. We couldn’t do a lot of things,” Musa said.

“But now you could see that breath of fresh air.”

Musa said his criticism was not motivated by the fact that he was from Kaduna State, but by his identity as a Nigerian concerned about developments in the country.

He also accused El-Rufai of using his office and influence to demolish the properties of residents over personal disagreements.

“I can tell you people what he has done to people living in Kaduna State from his own area. He had just personal [issues] with friends. The next thing, he sends a bulldozer to bulldoze your house down. He’s done it. It’s there on the TV,” he alleged.

“It’s not anything I’m concocting. People just go to YouTube and check what he has done. I mean, you will see a lot of it.

“He did a lot of things that I’m sure even he too is not proud of. Sitting down to look at it, I think he’s not proud of. And nobody should really, really be able to do that.”

The Defence Minister called for the emergence of political leaders committed to promoting national unity rather than exploiting Nigeria’s religious and ethnic differences for political gains. (Vanguard)